Judgment Approved by the court for handing down.
Solicitor General v Millinder
that A’s claim, pilfered from him, under the guise of the ECRO false
instrument be restored and that A be awarded the sum of the claim
against Middlesborough FC, plus standard interest accruing until the
judgment is paid in full.”
18.
In response, Lord Justice William Davis stated:
“Fraud must be proved if it is to have the effect submitted by the
Appellant. That can only occur in properly constituted proceedings. A
case is proven if and only if there is evidence to support it. That is not
the position here. Even if the grounds of appeal were arguable (which
they are not) and the full Court allowed the appeal, the outcome
would not be as set out in paragraph 162 of the grounds. With great
respect to the Appellant, that paragraph encapsulates his approach.
It assumes that he can relitigate issues determined by other judges
without any regard to the finality of litigation.”
19.
The effect of the order of Lord Justice William Davis is that the appellate court has
made a final ruling, binding on Mr Millinder, and also on any lower court, upholding
the validity of the section 42 Order. The Court of Appeal has determined that there is
no evidence that the Divisional Court acted with any impropriety, as Mr Millinder
alleges, and that there are no arguable grounds (with any real prospect of success) for
challenging the section 42 order on the basis of an argument that it is void because it
is based on earlier orders which are also alleged to be void.
20.
Mr Millinder cannot re-open those issues. They have been finally and definitively
determined against him on the merits by an appeal court judge who, as he said in his
order, had no prior knowledge of Mr Millinder’s existence or any aspect of his
involvement with the courts prior to considering his application for permission to
appeal.
The Committal Application
21.
22.
On 3 March 2022 the Solicitor General issued the present application to commit Mr
Millinder for contempt of court on the basis that he had deliberately breached
paragraphs 6 and 10 of the section 42 Order by:
i.
Sending 8 emails to Mr Justice Fancourt and two further emails to his clerk;
ii.
Making an application to the Crown Court sitting at Newcastle to set aside a
decision it had made to dismiss his appeal against a conviction for harassment,
without first obtaining the leave of the High Court; and
iii.
Sending four emails to HH Judge Prince in Newcastle Crown Court after the
Crown Court had dismissed his appeal against conviction.
The Solicitor General asked for a direction that personal service of the committal
application and of the section 42 Order should be dispensed with. There was clear
evidence that Mr Millinder had received a copy of the section 42 Order. Indeed, after
acknowledging receipt, he had emailed it to Newcastle Crown Court with a query
about whether it prohibited him from pursuing his appeal against conviction which
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